Bias and You

We may not all agree about what exactly happened at the polls on November 8, but we can certainly agree about what didn’t happen. When it comes to electing a woman to the top office of the land, history was not made.

For a moment, let’s set aside debates about the candidates themselves and think about the role gender bias might play any time a man and a woman vie for the same position.

Is it possible that many of us harbor unfavorable assumptions about women as leaders? Do these assumptions continue to impact elections, hiring decisions, and chances for promotion?

In our book, Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences, Matthew Freeman and I talk about the ways in which implicit bias can impose boundaries on opportunities. And these boundaries ultimately shape the realities that we all experience.